Battle of the Blends 2015 Blend A ~ 42.1% (Whisky Magazine)

Review: Battle of the Blends 2015 Blend A (Neil Ridley)

Category: Blended Scotch Whisky

Origin: Various (see below)

Bottling: Whisky Magazine

ABV: 42.1%

Cost: ?

Score: 82/100

What they say:

The rules were very simple:

1. The first fill will be a Highland malt, Clynelish, of equal measure (1 litre).

2. All the regions of Scotland need to be incorporated: Islands (which includes Islay), Speyside, Highlands (already accounted for), Lowlands and Campbeltown. There is no order as to when these are used, but in each issue, the details of the whisky must be revealed but not the quantity.

3. No bottle of whisky used must cost more than £50 RRP except for the wildcard detailed below and must be commercially available in UK.

4. There must be at least one grain whisky but there are no rules as to its origin.

5. A wildcard must be chosen – this can be anything, from anywhere. The only rule here, is that it cannot be over £150 RRP. Also it must be commercially available in UK.

6. The blend must be under 50% ABV when finally bottled.

7. A minimum of 15 litres of blend must be prepared.

8. There are no rules as to how much of each individual whisky category that you can add.

9. The blend must be complete by 1 September 2015 when it will be sent out for tasting and the the closing date is 9 October 2015.

Finish: Lingering fruity fig tang with hints of praline.
In conjunction with Master of Malt, the two blends were sent out to 270 potential judges of which 259 judges responded. Neil achieved 59 per cent of the votes.

What I say:

So along with 269 other whisky-interested peoples I was asked to help with the judging of the Whisky Magazine Battle of the Blends competition 2015 which pitted Neil Ridley against Dave Broom. The samples were coded A or B with a slight variance in ABV and colour so were appraised and scored blind.